16 May 2004	Sunday	25 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

KARACHI, May 15: About 14 per cent of the patients being treated in a medical ward of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), Karachi, suffer from hypertension, stated speakers at an awareness programme held on Saturday.

According to a survey carried by the JPMC staff, of the 1,369 patients undergoing treatment at the ward, a total of 194 complained of hypertension. The National Health Survey, on the other hand, revealed that hypertension affected one in every three persons over the age of 45 years.

The prevalence of the ailment among adults living in the urban areas was found to be 21.5 per cent and in the rural population it was 16.2 per cent. The overall prevalence among adult Pakistanis was 17.95 per cent, Prof Tasnim Ahsan and Dr Zainab Hussain said.

Annually, 12 per cent of all deaths can be accounted for by hypertension-related diseases, shows the survey. Only 37 per cent of the people of 25 years or above have had their blood pressure checked.

About half of all obese women belonging to the rural areas were hypertensive. Similarly, up to 65 per cent of the women hailing from the urban areas complained of high blood pressure, said the speakers.

The causes of hypertension included: hereditary factors, increased salt intake, obesity, aging, stress and a sedentary lifestyle. Smoking, high cholesterol, obesity and family history of heart attacks represented risk factors, they said.

The symptoms of the disease were headache, visual disturbances, nausea and vomiting. Every adult should have his or her blood pressure checked every couple of years, advised the two doctors.

This was necessary for the early detection of hypertension and for preventing the onset of circulatory conditions like cerebral haemorrhage, heart failure, kidney failure or even blindness, said the speakers.

It was important, therefore, that lifestyle be changed in the general population, they said. People should exercise regularly.

Walking for 30 minutes every day and cycling for half an hour could do wonders for ones lifestyle, they added. The modifications in one's diet was also important.

In general the use of oils should be reduced as much as possible. And fried food should be avoided generally, said Prof Ahsan and Dr Hussain. The seminar at which the two doctors were making presentations was organized by the JPMC's Medicine and Endocrine Foundation.